Julie and the phantoms visuals, imagines and preferences

•Adopted // Luke Patterson•

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A few months ago, something happened that changed my life for the best, it was something that I had dreamt about since I was a little girl.

I was 13 years old when I was adopted by the Patterson's, I can still remember the day, as if it happened yesterday.

~

I was sitting on my bed, reading a teen vogue magazine.

"Yo!" I look up and see Charlie, staring at me from the door, "there's someone downstairs for you." I frown but walk downstairs anyway, hoping that there was actually someone there for me.

When I walk in, I see miss Harrison, sitting opposite a couple, a woman who was wearing a floral dress, and a man in a suit. They both looked like an older couple.

"There you are! I would like you to meet Emily and Mitchell Patterson." Miss Harrison says.

"Hi?" I say to them as they both wave at me with a smile on their faces.

"The Patterson's, have come here today, to take you home with them." I look at miss Harrison with confusion. "They're adopting you."

I feel the tears that threaten to fall. I run to the couple and hug them with all my might.

A few weeks later I was finally settled into my new home. It was a really nice house, but I couldn't help but notice all the pictures of a boy, scattered along the walls.

"Emily?" I call, she walks up to join me, in the living room.

"Yes dear?"

"Who is this boy?" I point to a picture of the boy on one of the tables in the living room.

"Mitch? Can you come here please." She calls out. Mitch comes into the room a few seconds later.

"I think we should sit down to have this talk." Emily leads me to a couch, as her and Mitch sit on the opposite one.

"That boy in the pictures, is our son." Emily says with a wobbly voice.

"I haven't seen him though?"

"We know you haven't seen him dear, unfortunately he died a while ago, so I'm afraid you won't be able to meet him." Mitch says.

"What was his name?"

"Luke." Emily mutters, almost fully sobbing at this point. I walk over to one of the pictures and pick it up.

"Hi Luke, I'm your sibling now I guess." I smile at the boy in the picture.

I watch Emily and Mitch, as they shed tears over the interaction between Luke and I.

~~~~

Since I've been at college for about two months, I haven't been home as much, of course I still write to my parents, but it's been a while since I've seen them and Luke.

Yes I know Luke is dead, but ever since they adopted me, I felt like Luke was somehow with us, I always made an effort to say hello to one of Luke's pictures, just to make it seem like we could've been best friends.

I quickly retrieve my bag from the trunk of my car and hurry to the door, ready to surprise my parents. I decide to leave my bag outside, and fetch it after I surprise them.

I open the door swiftly and shout, "guess who's back!"

I turn and see them standing in the living room, with a girl and a boy, standing opposite them.

"I'm sorry? Am I interrupting?" I say quickly.

"Julie, this is our other child, we adopted a few years after Luke's passing." I smile at my mom and give her a kiss on the cheek, before I walk up to the girl - Julie - and give her a hug. When I finish hugging her, I walk over to the boy and hold my hand out for a handshake, not knowing how comfortable he was with hugging. He looks at me like I'm crazy, as I reach my hand out.

"What are you doing dear?" Mom asks.

I look at her, she looks completely shocked. I instantly think I've done something disrespectful, so I put my hand down.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know that he wasn't okay with that, I'll just head off to the kitchen and leave you all alone." I walk past the boy and look at Luke's picture.

"Hey Luke." I smile at the picture and make my way to the kitchen, making myself a cup of tea.

A few minutes later mom and dad walk into the kitchen, they look quite upset, I decide to give them some privacy, so I head upstairs to my room, after I fetch my bag from outside.

I put my bag on my bed, and unzip it.

"You can see me?" I instantly turn around in fear and shock at the voice. I see the boy from the living room standing there.

"I'm sorry?"

"You, you, you can see me. Why can you see me!" He shouts.

"Calm yourself down dude, I'm sorry if I offended you, but that doesn't mean you can just come up here and yell at me."

"You didn't offend me, I'm just confused."

"Confused about what?" I am purely shocked at this guys audacity right now.

"Don't you recognise me?" He says with a hopeful voice.

I take time to look at him closely, I do recognise him from somewhere, but I don't know from where.

Suddenly it hits me. I can feel myself start to shake, as I exit my room, and grab a picture from the wall outside my room. I hold up the frame, and stare at it as the boy walks out my room.

"Luke?" I am completely shocked right now.

"That's me." He smiles.

"I thought you were dead."

"I am, I'm a ghost."

"Why were you so shocked that I can see you?"

"Nobody else can see me, that girl that was with me, Julie, she's the only one who can see me, but now you can too."

After 9 years of pretending I have a brother, I finally have one, in the physical sense. I can't stop myself when I walk up to him and hug him. It's like all the feelings well up in me, all at once. He hesitates as he wraps his arms around me. But in the end we stand there for a few minutes, soaking in each others presence.